Fostering Oral Question, 12/09/13 [S]

During First Minister's Question Time on 12 September 2013 Kenneth Gibson (SNP) asked the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to encourage fostering.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, replied that the Government works closely with the Fostering Network to encourage and support people to become foster carers. It has provided £1 million of funding to support its work, which includes running campaigns such as foster care fortnight, which not only raises awareness of fostering, but provides a focus for fostering agencies to run local recruitment campaigns. The impact of those efforts can be seen in the increase in the number of fostering households from 3,092 in 2008 to 3,989 this year, which is a significant and welcome rise.

For the full answer to this and any subsidiary questions see the Scottish Parliament Official Report 12 September 2013 which is available from the Scottish Parliament website.